Water Wheel Tavern

You’d never guess by talking with him, for modesty is his middle name, but Matt Lawrence, the executive chef at Water Wheel Tavern, is a genuine artist. It’s not just his guitar-playing, as Matt and his band played some fine music across the region for many years. And it’s not just his culinary craft that makes his art so undeniably special. It’s also his presentations, the color palette of his plating, which tempt the eye and tease the taste buds even before the flavors of his fine cuisine reach the palate.

Matt, who has managed the historic restaurant’s kitchen for the past four years, says, “I love the color of the seasons, so I try to bring out the color of the best seasonal ingredients through my plating.” Just visualize the cornucopia of color spreading through his Autumn Apple Salad of mixed greens, laced with butternut squash, candied walnuts, shredded Brussels sprouts, and blackberries, topped with bleu cheese in an apple cider vinaigrette.

This is what you get in the latest iteration of Doylestown’s vaunted Water Wheel Tavern, a mainstay in the borough since its founding five decades before the birth of our nation, now enjoying new life under the inspired ownership of Bill Haas. The fact that the restaurant is not located in the heart of Doylestown, offering unlimited free parking, is a lure in itself. But since he purchased the restaurant in 2017, Bill Haas has transformed and upgraded the old tavern from a white-tablecloth fine-dining establishment into a more accessible eatery with sturdy wooden tables, an eclectic catering menu, live entertainment from Thursday through Saturday evenings, and so much more.

For example, enjoying Matt’s culinary magic whenever they visit the tavern—with their own numbered mugs hanging up nearby and generous discounts on their choices of beer—are the Mug Club. Bill Haas, who also owns and operates Pen Ryn Estate on the Delaware, where he says three hundred and fifty weddings take place every year, is also pleased at how the catering business has picked up at Water Wheel (which happens to seat 350 people!). Guests can enjoy private catered affairs in the restaurant’s Dyer Room (with seating for fifty), the Millstone Bar downstairs (seating sixty-five), and the covered Garden Room outdoors, where another sixty-five can be accommodated from spring through fall.

But the main reason guests keep returning to the restaurant is the menu. Jim Davon, a former chef (at Doylestown’s Sycamore Inn) and the restaurant’s general manager since 2017 (and also the chef’s father-in-law), puts it succinctly: “Simply put, Matt has an artistic palate. Since he started here, he’s upgraded the menu and elevated it to fit the status of the building. We’ve noticed a real uptick in repeat business. People come for bridal showers or weddings and enjoy our offerings so much that they come back again. In fact, we have a couple of guests who return a couple of time a week—just to try Matt’s specials, which we always announce on our website the week before.”

A case in point was one of my favorite choices of the evening—Breaded Avocado wedges served with a ramekin of Mexican street corn con queso dip, with spicy serrano aioli and tortilla salad—as tasty to the eye as it was to the palate. Eve’s Sweet Potato Pierogies, topped with red onion confit and zesty crisp prosciutto bits in an allspice cream, also blazed with the orange, red, and purple highlights of the season.

Olga McIntosh, our congenial server, who had recited the specials by heart and suggested several of Matt’s finest creations, came up big with her recommendations for entrées. I chose the delectable homemade Gnocchi & Chorizo, a generous plate of the familiar Italian dumplings, spiced by shards of chorizo dressed with roasted pumpkin cream, spinach, pepitas (edible pumpkin seeds), and shaved Parmesan in a balsamic reduction. Tell me you can’t visualize the crisp warm colors of autumn here. And probably our favorite dish of the evening was Eve’s choice: Thai Sweet Chili Atlantic Salmon, served with sliced herb potatoes, snap peas, blackberries, shaved carrots, and toasted sesame in brown butter.

As we had decided to enjoy our planned leftovers the following evening, we had just enough room for an amazing dessert (again, Olga’s recommendation)—the oddly named Apple Xango, or fried apple cheesecake, another original Matt Lawrence creation.

Water Wheel Tavern has a rich history as a post office, general store, tavern, inn, and restaurant. But it pulses with renewed energy since Bill Haas and his staff (including Jim Davon’s two daughters) have rejuvenated the establishment in the past five years. Patrons enjoy watching sports on TVs at the horseshoe-shaped bar. Weekday Happy Hour is still a big draw. Live entertainment rocks the Millstone Bar at the end of each week. And patrons bask in the culinary magic of Chef Matt Lawrence’s inspired, and blazingly colorful, menu. Don’t miss it!

Water Wheel Tavern is located at 4424 Old Easton Road, Doylestown, PA 18902; 215-348-8300; www.waterwheeltavern.com. Open Tuesday - Thursday & Sunday, 11:30 a.m. – 9 p.m. and Friday & Saturday, 11:30 a.m. – 10 p.m. Dinner Sunday, 4 – 9 p.m. Closed Monday. Happy Hour: Tuesday – Friday, 4–6 p.m. Available for private parties of all sizes, takeout. Live entertainment, Thursday–Saturday, 6–9 p.m.